Australian bombs hit wrong targets in Syria

Two RAAF aircraft dropped six bombs as part of a bungled coalition air strike which hit Syrian government irregular forces rather than Islamic State, an investigation has found.

Chief of Australian Defence Force Joint Operations Vice Admiral David Johnston said it was difficult to tell the forces apart.

"These forces looked and acted like the Daesh fighters the coalition has been targeting for the last two years," he said.

"They were not recognisable military uniforms or displaying identifying flags or markings,."

US, British and Danish aircraft also took part in the mission in September, in which aircraft released a total of 33 bombs and missiles, inflicting an unknown death toll ranging from at least 15 to as high as 83.

The bungled mission was examined by a four-member US-led investigation team, which included an Australian, who concluded the strikes were conducted in full compliance with rules of engagement and laws of armed conflict.

Vice Admiral Johnston said the report, released overnight in the US, said decisions identifying the targets as Islamic State was supported by information available at the time.

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"The investigation also found no evidence of deliberate disregard of targeting procedures or rules of engagement," he told reporters.

Just who was hit still isn't completely clear as investigators weren't able to visit Syria.

The attack occurred on September 17, when coalition aircraft, including two RAAF F/A-18 Hornets and a Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft attacked what they thought was an ISIS position and vehicles in the Dayr Az Zawr area of eastern Syria.

This had been planned some time before based on intelligence which included video from unmanned aircraft.

The strike was halted when Russian officials contacted the Coalition Air and Space Operation Centre (CAOC) in Qatar saying they were killing members of the Syrian military.

The Russians actually made two calls. In the first, the Russian official's usual CAOC contact wasn't available so he ended the call without any indication of urgency, then called back 27 minutes later. Three minutes later the strike was halted.

Between the two calls, 15 weapons were released.

The investigation made four recommendations to refine CAOC targeting procedures.

Vice Admiral Johnston said there was some intelligence available which might have led to questioning of the original judgment that those set to be targeted were IS fighters.

"In the targeting process, there were a few other information sets that may also have caused the original decision to have been reviewed," he said.

A senior RAAF officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Australian personnel conducting the strikes set a very high standard to ensure they didn't hit the wrong target.

"The thought that they could have been involved in this mis-identification process in the first instance was pretty gut-wrenching for them," he said